A BOLTON butchers has made the “cut” in one of the UK’s most prestigious competitions for craft butchery products.

Frasers Butchers in Rishton Lane picked up two Diamond awards at the Smithfield Awards in London.

Frasers was awarded the titles of Best Traditional Pork Sausage and Best English Pork Product for its traditional pork sausage at the event, which is held annually by the Q Guild of Butchers to recognise and reward products created by their members who are among the very best artisan butchers in the country.

Greg Hull, of Frasers, said: “I’m over the moon. It’s always nice when you’ve worked hard on a product to have it reinforced by the industry and to be recognised by your peers.”

He added: “It’s my son, Andrew Hull, who makes the sausage so it’s good to see that future generations do well, and it’s just such a mood boost for the team.”

The winning banger is a traditional British pork sausage made using specially selected cuts of prime English pork, seasoned to enhance the flavour of the pork, all bound in a natural casing.

The judges thought the sausages looked good on the plate and had excellent flavour and texture.

In addition to their winning sausages, the team at Frasers had further cause to celebrate when they were awarded gold certificates for their smoked bacon and pork and chilli pie.

The Q Guild butchers, who come from across Britain, were recognised in 18 categories, which ranged from Best Traditional Pork Sausage, Best Bacon and Cured Product, Pies and Bakery, to Innovation, Best Game Product and Best Beef and Lamb products from England, Scotland and Wales.

The awards were judged blind by an independent panel of international food and meat industry experts at City of Glasgow College’s state of the art facilities in October 2018.

Mr Hull was presented with his awards by chef and broadcaster, Matt Tebbutt, at a ceremony in London last Wednesday.

Claire Holland, manager of the Q Guild of Butchers, said: “This year’s Smithfield Awards winners are truly an example of exceptional quality. These butchers are preserving and promoting the very best in butchery heritage, skills, customer service and above all, delicious meat.”